A Study on the Mechanism of Spiritual Leadership on Burnout of Elementary and Secondary School Teachers: The Mediating Role of Career Calling and Emotional Intelligence

Leadership style has become an important construct in the research literature on alleviating burnout among elementary and secondary school teachers. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of spiritual leadership, career calling, and emotional intelligence on teacher burnout. Purposive sampling was utilized in this study to obtain data from 380 elementary and secondary school teachers in Heze City, Shandong Province, China. SmartPLS software was used to establish a partial least squares structural equation model to verify the research hypothesis. The results indicated that there was a significant negative direct relationship between spiritual leadership, career calling, emotional intelligence, and teacher burnout. There was a direct and significant positive relationship between spiritual leadership on career calling and emotional intelligence. In addition, spiritual leadership influenced teacher burnout through two mediating variables: career calling and emotional intelligence. The results broadened the understanding of the intrinsic relationship between spiritual leadership and teacher burnout and explained the mediating role of career calling and emotional intelligence in spiritual leadership and teacher burnout. Based on the findings, elementary and secondary school leaders should practice spiritual leadership styles to stimulate teachers’ career calling and emotional intelligence in order to reduce teacher burnout.